December 2014: Holiday message to faculty

Dear Faculty colleagues,

And so, December is upon us again and with it the opportunity for a bit of a break from our normal routines over the holidays.

It has certainly been a busy few months, with some significant developments on campus. In September, we formally opened the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts on the Kingston waterfront. If you haven’t yet had a chance to catch a concert in the main performance hall, I would urge you to do so. Not only is it a visually stunning space, the acoustics rival anything you would find in a bigger city (a visiting critic said as much). In fact, in the next few weeks a delegation from one of the world’s pre-eminent performing arts conservatories, the Juilliard School, will be visiting the Isabel for inspiration as they plan for performance facilities at their new campus in China.

Last week, we also formally announced the news that the Board of Trustees has approved the Richardson Stadium revitalization project. If everything goes as planned, construction will begin after the Gaels’ 2015 football season, and be completed in time to both kick off the 2016 season and to mark our 175th anniversary. Now that we have board approval, we can begin engaging the Queen’s and Kingston communities in discussions around the stadium, which will be used by several sports, including soccer, lacrosse and field hockey, as well as clubs and community groups. We will also be launching a dedicated website in the new year. It is an exciting time for athletics at Queen’s.

After some recent media coverage, I know many of us are still thinking about the issue of sexual assault on university campuses. Earlier this month I met with our Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Working Group, who have been directed to expedite their specific recommendations for the university on enhancing and creating programs and initiatives that address sexual assault. You will be hearing more about our plans to address this serious issue in the next several weeks.

Finally, I hope you will be able to celebrate the season with your colleagues and me at my annual holiday reception, which will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, December 16, from 11:30am until 1:30pm in the Athletics and Recreation Centre. We are very fortunate to have such accomplished faculty and staff at Queen’s, and I am continually impressed with and grateful for the important work that you do.

With that in mind, I hope that you enjoy this video, which I feel captures some of the energy that makes Queen’s such a special place.

I wish you and your families a safe and restorative holiday, and all the best in 2015.